LOS ANGELES — “Burn the boat.”
That’s been the message from Lincoln Riley to his USC football team during the bye week and the days leading up to Saturday night’s game at Nebraska.
“Burn the boats, and just move on to the next opponent,” linebacker Jadyn Walker told reporters on Wednesday. “And just kind of have that chip on our shoulder.”
If the 23rd-ranked Trojans’ run defense can demonstrate that it has the will to learn and win, then it can turn a watery 34-24 loss to Notre Dame in South Bend into the funeral pyre that Riley is asking for and finish the season strong.
USC came in hot against Michigan to start October and shut down the Wolverines, 31-13. The Trojans throttled them on third and fourth downs and only allowed 109 rushing yards.
A week later, in what might have been the last rivalry game against the Fighting Irish, USC fell flat. Notre Dame rushed for 306 yards and the Trojans missed a season-high 10 tackles. Pro Football Focus gave the USC defense its lowest run defense grade of the season at a dismal 37.6%.
“I feel like Michigan, we were just hungry,” Walker said. “We were way hungrier throughout the week, and at Notre Dame I felt like we were still hungry, but it wasn’t the same. I guess we just weren’t prepared; we didn’t come out ready to play.”
Defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn has been preaching gap integrity in the latter half of this season, in addition to other fundamentals like tackling and communication.
Team film sessions show examples of good and bad moments from the USC defense, as well as successes and failures of other college and professional teams.
“Try not to make the same mistakes twice,” safety Kamari Ramsey said. “That’s the biggest thing. If someone teaches you or coaches you up on one thing, don’t make the same mistakes because you don’t want to do that for yourself and the coaches.
“I don’t want to keep talking about the same things over and over because of some of the things that happen within the game or practice.”
The run defense will be tested once again in Lincoln against Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson, who has the second-most rushing yards in the conference with 837. The 5-foot-11, 200-pound back averages 104.6 yards a game and roughly three yards after contact.
“Nebraska’s back compared to these other backs – really all backs – he breaks a lot of tackles in space,” Lynn told reporters on Wednesday. “All the skill positions, when you look at their explosive plays, it’s a lot of runs. It’s a lot of screens. It’s a lot of RPOs. Even if it’s a 6-yard gain, he’s breaking four or five tackles.”
USC and Nebraska are vying to remain in the top half of the Big Ten Conference, and the Cornhuskers are especially trying to separate themselves. They’re one of five teams that are 3-2 in conference play.
USC’s ability to learn from its mistakes will define how the second half of the season plays out. Northwestern, Iowa, Oregon and UCLA remain on the schedule, and each game is critical to a potential College Football Playoff bid.
“Talk. Literally that,” Walker said. “Just talking more because we’re a young team. If we’re not on the same page, it doesn’t look right. When we all get on the same page and communicate, we look pretty good.”